


Kiss Me Like You'll Die If You Don't

by rosesandspaghetti



Category: The Great Gatsby (2013)
Genre: Alternate Canon, Ending Fix, Kissing, Light Angst, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-10
Updated: 2019-06-10
Packaged: 2020-04-23 20:46:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 803
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19158679
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rosesandspaghetti/pseuds/rosesandspaghetti
Summary: What if Nick chose not to leave Gatsby alone that morning of his death?





	Kiss Me Like You'll Die If You Don't

**Author's Note:**

> Just that beloved alternate universe in which Gatsby doesn't die, but instead realizes he's hella gay for his ol' buddy Nick.

He turned around and looked up at the balcony just as he was about to head off to work. He took a measured breath and called out to the man, as if his gut had been telling him if he didn't, he'd never see that man again. "Jay!"

Jay Gatsby, the man made out of gold and hope, leaned against the railing. He stared down at Nick with a small, sad smile.

Now, Nick would have said what he wanted to say from there, but suddenly the idea of going to work and leaving Jay alone, waiting for a call from Daisy that he knew would never come… it didn't seem right.

So, he climbed the stairs up to the balcony and sucked in some of that golden air surrounding Gatsby. 

"They're a rotten crowd, Jay. You're worth the whole damn bunch put together," Nick managed a sort-of-functional smile despite never paying the man an actual compliment for the entire time he's known him. And apparently Jay noticed.

Gatsby's eyes widen, speechless for a while, but he still kept that smile. That sad, desperate smile.

"You didn't have to come all the way back up here to say that, old sport. Don't you have work?"

"I don't want… Jay, Daisy isn't going to call."

Gatsby's smile fell slowly, as if he was trying to comprehend what Nick had just told him. 

And then he laughed. He laughed and shook his head, rolling his eyes.

"Please old sport, she'll call. She'll realize-"

Nick began to zone out the rest of that utterly lovesick, hopeless rant he's heard a hundred times before. About how Daisy would realize that she belongs with Gatsby and how she never loved Tom.

He sighed.

Daisy wasn't going to call. She wasn't going to leave Tom, no matter how badly he wished that wasn't true. But unlike Jay, Nick wasn't living an illusion. He faced the fact that Daisy had changed and would never go back to being the sweet, self-respecting women she use to be.

But Gatsby just wouldn't move on from the past.

"Jay! You. Can't. Repeat. The. Past!"

Gatsby had paused mid-sentence, startled by Nick's sudden outburst. A frown formed. But before he could argue, Nick rubbed his tired, achy eyes and groaned. 

"You're an absolute idiot, Jay! A stupid, hopeless… amazing idiot! Because out of all of them, despite all the lies, you're the only one who genuinely has a heart. And it really gets to me how in love you are with someone who will never love you the same way again! Face it, Jay- she no longer cares about her or your happiness and her choosing Tom after everything you've offered her proves it!"

Nick took a shaky breath and rubbed his eyes again, suddenly realizing that he hadn't slept for almost twenty-four hours.

"Jay… You can't repeat the past… And just like James Gatz is no longer who you are, neither is Daisy… You need to start focusing on what's right in front of you- focus… focusing on the people who've never screwed you over!" 

His lack of sleep must have been bringing out some repressed judgements in him. Or maybe Gatsby was just really an idiot. Either way, Nick was suddenly incredibly embarrassed- all Gatsby had been doing was staring at him.

"You truly surprise me, old sport. Never would have taken you as one to-"

"Blow up in a pit of rage like you did yesterday during lunch with Tom?"

Gatsby, again, just stared at Nick in disbelief, shutting his mouth. Obviously, Jay was flustered.

They stood in silence uncomfortably for what seemed like hours before Gatsby broke the silence, "You think I'm amazing?"

Nick rolled his eyes, snorting a bit. "Is that the only thing you got from everything I just said?"

And then their gazes met in sync, silence falling over them once again.

"Focus on the present," Gatsby began to slowly repeat, taking a step closer to Nick. "Focus on the people who haven't screwed me over…"

Nick raised an eyebrow, nodding slightly.

As Gatsby moved closer to Nick, his breath shortened and his voice deepened, "Like who?"

Nick hadn't realized how close Jay had gotten until he felt somebody else's breath on his lips. "Uh, like-"

"You?"

Nick stared into those golden eyes that weren't actually gold, but because they belonged to Gatsby, they might as well have been. It took him a while before he nodded, the world slowing down around him.

"You really are worth the whole damn bunch, Jay."

Gatsby ducked his head and leaned in. Before Nick could think, lips were pushed gently onto his. Time had truly stopped and all, if any, remaining braincells of Nick's were gone. Because instead of pushing him away, as any sensible person would, he kissed back.

**Author's Note:**

> Comments are appreciated because I'm considering writing a second part to this!


End file.
